Propelling means for aerial vessels.



G. G. WIELAND.

PBOPELLING MEANS FOR AERIAL VESSELS.

v APPLICATION IILED SEPT. 14, 1911. 1,018,223 Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

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O. G. WIELAND. PROPELLING MEANS FOR AERIAL VESSELS.

APPLICATION IILED SEPT.14, 1911.

1,018,223. Patented Feb.20, 1912.

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CHARLES G. WIELAND,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IPB-OPELLING MEANS FOR AERIAL VESSELS.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLEs G. IVIELAND, a subject of the German Emperor, and resident of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Propelling Means for Aerial Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to propelling means for aerial vessels, and more particularly to screw propellers.

Screw propellers, as usually made, employ a plurality of blades which act upon the a1r to propel the vessel. A great loss of power is occasioned by rotating the said propellers in the air for the reason that they force the air not only in the direction of the longitudinal axis of their shafts, but radially also. Of course, the air which is forced in a radial direction does not perform a useful work, and the power employed to force it in such direction is a total loss. A further defect of these propellers consists in that they are unable to grip the air, as it were, or in other words unable to thrust properly upon the air.

It is now one of the objects of the present invention to obviate the defects of the propellers heretofore in use, as far as possible, and to provide a simple and effective propeller which will exert a pushing effect upon the air which is considerably larger at a given number of revolutions than that exerted by the propellers heretofore in use, whereby a greater speed is obtained.

Another object of the invention is to provide a screw propeller with means, whereby the air is caused to flow in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the propeller shaft, and to act upon the propeller at the same time by reaction.

With these and other objects in view, which will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the combination, arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter fully described, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that many changes may be made in the size and proportion of the several parts and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Two of the many possible embodiments of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 14, 1911.

Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

Serial No. 649,296.

the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a propeller constructed in accordance with this invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; Fig.-

3 is a section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4: is a section taken on line 4-4: of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a modified propeller; Fig. 6 is a side elevation of this modification; Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 77 of Fig. 5; and Fig. 8 is a section taken on line 88 of Fig. 5.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, the numeral 10 indicates a hub, having an opening 11 therethrough to receive the propeller shaft. Projecting from the hub are two similar blades 12, 12 of a size and pitch which may be designed according to the requirements. In the drawin gs the blades and the hub have been shown as a single casting, but it will be easily seen that the blades may be made separately and attached to the hub in any suitable manner. The propeller, described so far, is in all respects similar to those heretofore used. In each blade are formed a plurality of conduits 13, 13, arranged substantially parallel with each other and running from points near the hub section of the propeller blades toward and to their outer edges 14, 14. These conduits are closed at the edges 14 of the propeller, and provided near their outer ends with outlets 15, 15, which are arranged in planes substantially parallel to the plane of the blades, and are considerably smaller in area than the inlets 16, 16 of the conduits, which inlets are located in vicinity of the hub 10 of the propeller. The operation of this propeller is as follows: When rotation is imparted to the same by the motor of the aerial vessel, an air current will be created by the blades in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the propeller shaft. At the same timeair enters through the inlets 16 the conduits 13, and this air will be subjected to centrifugal action and forced thus toward the outlets 15 of said conduits. The air in said conduits will be caused to flow in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the propeller shaft. Since the air passing out of the outlets of the conduits flows in the same directions as the air current created by the propeller proper, the two kinds of currents will aid each other and thereby increase to a great extent the speed of the vessel upon which the propeller is mounted. In passing out through the outlets 15, the air cur rents will act by reaction also, thereby serving to increase further the speed of the vessel.

A modification of the invention is shown in Figs. 5 to 8, inclusive, in which the blades 17, 17 are provided with a plurality of con duits 18 and 19. These conduits run from the vicinity of the hub section toward and to the outer edges 20 of the propeller blades. Each conduit decreases in cross section to ward the outer edges 20 of the propeller blades. The conduits 18, 18 run in substantially straight lines throughout their lengths, while the conduits 19 deviate from a straight line toward the leading edges 21, 21 of the blades. The conduits in each blade are provided with an inlet 22 common to all of the same, which inlet is arranged upon the front side of each blade near the hub of the pro peller. Each conduit is provided with an individual outlet, all of said outlets being arranged upon the rear side of the propeller near to the outer edges 20 of the blades. The outlets 23, 23 of the conduit-s 18 are located in a plane substantially parallel to the propeller blades, and their longitudinal axes are arranged at right angles to the surfaces of the propeller blades, while the axes of the outlets 24, 2 1 of the conduits 19 are located at an acute angle to the surfaces of the propeller blades (as clearly shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings). The outlets 2d, 24: are also situated near the outer edges 20 of the blades. The operation of this device is as follows: A current of air will be created by the blades in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the propeller shaft. This imparts motion to the vessel. Since the inlets 22 of the conduits of the propeller are arranged in the front surface of the blades, or in other words upon that face which points toward the body of the vessel, air will enter the conduits through said inlets as the vessel proceeds. The air is then, by centrifugal action, forced toward the outlets 23 and 24, respectively, and will leave the conduits 18 through their outlets 23 in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the propeller shaft, acting thereby by its reaction and aiding the current created by the propeller proper for the reasons 1nentioned in connection with the device shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive. Air which leaves the conduits 19 through the outlets 24 will be caused to flow in a direction at an acute angle to the axis of the propeller shaft. It will thus aid to some extent the currents created by the propeller proper, but will at the same time act upon the propeller itself by reaction in the direction of its rotation, or in other words it will impart by its reaction energy to the propeller of the vessel, which energy will tend to increase the velocity of the propeller itself.

What I claim is 1. A propeller comprising a hub, and a plurality of blades projecting therefrom provided with a plurality of straight and a plurality of curved conduits running from near said hub toward the outer edges of said blades substantially parallel with the faces of said blades.

2. A propeller comprising a hub, and a plurality of blades projecting therefrom provided with a plurality of straight and a plurality of curved conduits running from near said hub toward the outer edges of said blades substantially parallel with the faces of said blades and gradually decreasing in cross section toward said outer edges.

3. A propeller comprising a hub, and a plurality of blades projecting therefrom provided with a plurality of straight and a plurality of curved conduits running from near said hub toward the outer edges of said blades substantially parallel with the faces of said blades, the inlets of said conduits being provided in the front face of said propeller near said hub and the outlets thereof in its rear face near the outer edges of said blades.

4. A propeller comprising a hub, and a plurality of blades projecting therefrom provided with a plurality of straight and a plurality ofcurved conduits running from near said hub toward the outer edges of said blades substantially parallel-with the faces of said blades and gradually decreasing in cross section toward said outer edges, the inlets of said conduits being provided in the front face of said propeller near said hub and the outlets thereof in its rear face near the outer edges of said blades.

5. A propeller comprising ahub, and a plurality of blades projecting therefrom provided with a plurality of straight and a plurality of curved conduits running from near said hub toward the outer edges of said blades substantially parallel with the faces of said blades, the inlets of said conduits being provided in the front face of said propeller near said hub and the outlets thereof in its rear face near the outer edges of said blades, the outlets of the straight conduits being arranged to discharge the air passing through said conduits in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said hub and the outlets of said curved conduits causing the air to pass at an angle to the direction at which it passes from the outlets of said straight conduits.

6. A propeller comprising a hub, and a plurality of blades projecting therefrom provided with a plurality of straight and a plurality of curved conduits, running from near said hub toward the outer edges of said blades substantially parallel with the faces of said blades and gradually decreasing in cross section toward said outer edges, the inlets of said conduits being provided in the front face of said propeller near said hub and the outlets thereof in its rear face near the outer edges of said blades, the outlets of the straight conduits being adapted to discharge the air passing through said conduits in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said hub and the outlets of said curved conduits causing the air to pass at an angle to the direction at which it passes from the outlets of said straight conduits.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 13th day of September, A. D. 1911.

CHARLES G. WIELAND. Witnesses:

SIGMUND HERzoG, S. BIRNBAUM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

